It's an Honor to Be Here
by lostcowgirl
Summary: Sometimes when things look worst, something special occurs. This is an adjunct to Die a Little Live a Lot with reference to actual episodes & as much historic accuracy as possible.


**It's an Honor to Be Here**

Christmas 1890 and the New Year will be very special for that family I've adopted as my own named Dillon. A man couldn't ask for a better daughter than Kitty Russell Dillon or a better son-in-law who's like a son than that overgrown public servant who finally made her his bride after 20 years on June 3, 1887, Matt Dillon. Still, it didn't look like this holiday season would be all that special five days before Kitty's annual Christmas Eve party at the saloon she owns. The events of that day were enough to put a scare into all of us, including the Dillon family physician and the town doctor, me, Galen Adams.

The day started out fine. Festus Haggen was actually doing some work so he wasn't among the extended and inner family members who trekked over to the train depot to welcome Matt back from his meeting with State Attorney General Lyman Kellogg and Governor Lyman Humphrey. Barring unexpected complications he was returning home that Saturday afternoon, December 20th, expecting to be the circuit judge for southwestern Kansas once March 1891 rolled along. Matt exited the train and strode toward his family, picking up my godson Adam Galen Dillon the not-quite three-year-old red-haired youngster with his father's features along the way so the tyke could ride on his broad shoulders. Once he reached his wife, the source of that red hair, Matt put his son down to embrace her. Adam took the opportunity to race ahead toward their apartment above the Long Branch.

Then disaster struck. Adam was grabbed and carried toward an alley by a vicious hulk, Mitch Purvis, who proceeded to beat the boy about the head and shoulders until Matt put a stop to it, and then some, with his fists. Once Kitty and I caught up, she raced with her stricken child in her arms toward their home with me and Matt and Kitty's ten-year-old daughter Abigail Rachel Dillon following close behind. Their oldest, 13-year-old Nathaniel David Dillon remained behind with Albert Goode, Chester's younger son and their ranch foreman at the ripe old age of 21. Matt gave him the job when he was 18. Like his father, once you get past the scatter-brained ideas, he proved himself quite capable of handling getting the place ready for the owners as a livable, working horse and cattle ranch. Nat and his sister were orphans Matt and Kitty met on the return trip from their honeymoon in Saint Louis and adopted several months later after circumstances put the youngsters into their home.

Albert proved his worth, along with my widowed sister Beatrice Hildebrandt who arrived on the same train for an indefinite visit, by getting deputies Festus and Matt's handpicked successor Lionel Walker, the son of Denver's District Attorney, whose abilities Matt came to admire after the near disaster in Denver in the summer of '86, to intervene. The two men managed to pull the enraged father off his son's hefty attacker. Once the lawman in him surfaced, his deputies hauled the culprit off to the jail while father and older son sped home to find out if Adam was still alive and, if so, what I could do to keep him that way. Albert, meanwhile, escorted my sister to the Dodge House for a room and pointed out my office to her.

Adam, aside from a whole lot of contusions, a couple of broken ribs and a minor concussion, awoke later that evening. He was very sore, but also very much alive if more than a bit intimidated by his ordeal at the hands of the remorseless Purvis. Then the other shoe fell. The government had sent a Justice Department investigator to look into Matt's character before his final appointment as a federal judge for the newly designated Dodge City federal court. Kansas had grown enough to warrant creating another district, something Judge Brooker had anticipated when he suggested Matt read law under him and pass the Kansas Bar so he could continue to work for the law after stepping down as marshal. It was this opportunity that finally pushed him to propose to Kitty, although he was leaning that way at the time, despite his own stubborn resistance. Anyway, Trent Bingham's report could jeopardize even being a Kansas Circuit Court judge if he talked to the wrong people.

It turned out Bingham, like Rex Proctor years before, turned out to be a thorough, yet open-minded man. Although he sympathized with Matt's reaction to Purvis beating up on Adam, he still insisted on a joint hearing to determine the relative guilt of each man. At the same time he gained a feel for the whole man by talking with as many Dodge City citizens, myself and Matt's wife and children included, as possible in the short time he had before catching his train home in time for a late Christmas Eve arrival. I caught him early on Tuesday morning December 23, crossing Front Street from the Dodge House to send a telegram. I caught up to him.

"Hello, Mr. Bingham. If you plan on destroying a man, I'll have to find a way to stop you from sending that telegram."

"Just who would I be destroying Doctor if I sent a negative report to my superiors in Washington? While the man you're referring to has been, for the most part, an exemplary enforcer of the law, that doesn't mean he has the temperament to be a judge. Denying him that position would hardly amount to destruction. It would merely mean he'd have to content himself with being a rancher and family man for the remainder of his life. I understand he's quite adept at that sort of thing and the family already has the necessary land and stock. I also know first hand how violent he can be. I saw it when I exiting the train on Saturday."

"Oh pshaw. If that's what you think, you don't know Matt Dillon. The law rules his life so much that I can't count the number of times he's put that badge he wears over his heart above his own personal needs. He's a private man when it comes to his emotions. I've known him since he was an overgrown boy and highly vulnerable so, save for Kitty, I know him better than anyone else – turning him down would make him a shell of the man he is."

"Any negative aspects to how Marshal Dillon has conducted himself over the past 25 years have been so rare and vague or attributable to unreliable sources that I couldn't believe we were dealing with a real man. He had to be intimidating those who might have a genuine negative opinion of his conduct and character. I convinced Washington to send me out here to find the whole truth behind the man that Judge Brooker and the Kansas Governor and Attorney General so highly recommend. I thought it nigh impossible that the youngest man to ever be appointed a full US Marshal could have accomplished all that he's said to have, at least legitimately. Exaggeration had to have overcome fact. If he is so good at the violence that comes with enforcing the law, I wondered if it would preclude him from being able to be temperate in his decisions. That was the underlying purpose for my coming here."

"You wanted to find the negative, but I give you credit for talking with those of us who think he's one of the finest men to ever live. Just as he's been the best lawman west of the Mississippi, he has the potential to be the best judge. I can't stand by and let you malign his character to people who've never met him based on disgruntled diatribes from those who are far lesser men than he because they lack the compassion to counterbalance their ambition. I'd be forced to do something that would cause Matt to arrest me and that amounts to forcing him to turn in his badge, or so he once told me. However, he'd do it only because he wouldn't want to be the one to arrest me, not because he didn't think I should be arrested."

"You're not the only man, woman or child who has that fierce loyalty to him. Yes, I've uncovered some negative opinions, but they only show his depth of character. You don't have to resort to assault to prevent me from sending my report and I don't have to wait for the outcome of this morning's hearings to know that I'm right in encouraging the government to go ahead with their plans as far as Mr. Dillon is concerned. He, his family and friends will not only be pleased, they'll be pleasantly surprised by aspects of the results."

Matt was exonerated at the hearings while Purvis will be a very old man by the time he's released from state prison. Bingham left along with the judge who'd come just to conduct those hearings. We're more than ready to celebrate Christmas even if it's not yet certain that Matt will be the judge for the new federal district headquartered in Dodge City. I only hope my godson can get past the trauma that's hurt him both mentally and physically to enjoy the festivities.

Kitty went all out for the Christmas Eve dance at the Long Branch and not only because it will be her final party here. I would have preferred she rested more considering her condition and so would Matt, but we both know there was no way we could force her to do that even for the sake of the child due in late May or early June. She had tradition and a lot to celebrate, not to mention the relief that Adam would heal with time and that Matt wouldn't suffer for being a father, for once in his life, more than a lawman. I bid them goodnight as the clock struck midnight, but not before kissing both my favorite female redheads under the mistletoe as is the right and privilege of fathers and grandfathers everywhere.

The following afternoon I joined the rest of my Dodge family for a private Christmas dinner at the O'Brien horse ranch. I'm please Newly's decided to forego marshaling for doctoring. I'm no spring chicken anymore so it's a blessing that he's taken over the country part of my practice since completing his medical training, of which I contributed no small part. His home, normally shared with his wife Paula and their two little ones John, who's slightly older than Adam, and his younger brother Liam, was invaded by all five of the Dillon family, Paula's father Bear Sanderson, Festus and me. Albert had taken the train home to be with his folks on their farm near Wichita.

We were about to tuck into the Christmas pudding when there was a knock on the door that only became more persistent when we tried to ignore it. That is, I tried to ignore it. Matt and Newly, being relative youngsters, are more dedicated to work interfering with holiday festivities went to answer the door. It was young Kevin Wakely from the telegraph office with a wire for Matt. We invited Kevin in, but he was anxious to get back to his own family and had only been in the telegraph office for a few hours in case a telegram like the one for Matt arrived or an emergency one had to be sent. He lived with his parents, who owned the harness shop and ran it with the help of his older, married brother, in the next block behind the telegraph office.

Matt read through the telegram. A strange expression appeared on his face as he finished it – one I couldn't decipher.

"Matt, what's it say? "Is it something Clem could have handled?"

"Here, Kitty. Read it aloud."

"Marshal Matthew Dillon, Dodge City, Kansas. Special train leaving Dodge station 9:00 AM, local time for Nation's Capitol. Advise you, family and one other board to arrive in time for festivities in your honor. Accommodations provided and all expenses paid. Benjamin Harrison, President."

"Bingham did tell me when I met him on the street an hour before the hearings on Tuesday that you would be pleasantly surprised. This telegram must be what he meant. He doesn't leave us much time to get ready."

"Yah ole scudder, what makes yah think Matthew and Miss Kitty will pick you to go along? Use yer own money ta git ta Warshington."

"Festus, I'd love for you to come along, but Lionel's spending the week between Christmas and New Year's with his folks and his girl Eileen's brother's family in Denver. I need an experienced man to help Clem while he's gone."

"I have to agree with Matt. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself at all those fancy parties. Besides, even you have enough brains to figure out that since Adam's not completely healed and Kitty's four months pregnant, they'll require the assistance of their personal physician."

"Cowboy, it looks like Doc's nominated himself as the final member of our group for this trip. He didn't say it, but Ford County shouldn't be without a doctor while we're gone. Newly needs to remain with his family. Liam's too young to travel all that way. He's not weaned yet."

It was all settled. We managed to pack and dress in our traveling clothes so that we'd be at the station in time to board the special train. It consisted of a passenger car, a bar car, a sleeping car and a dining car in addition to the engine, open car to hold the wood supply and caboose. However, although it was a through train, with no need to stop except to take on water and additional fuel, it would take on select passengers along the approximately 1,000-mile route in Topeka, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Charleston, West Virginia before reaching Washington. Traveling at an average speed of slightly under 50 miles an hour we'd be there in less than 24 hours. We should arrive early on December 27.

In Topeka the governor and attorney general, US Senators, newly elected John James Ingalls and incumbent Preston B. Plumb, joined us. Other dignitaries came aboard in the other three cities, but I couldn't see what they had to do with Matt. I think they were just folks being paid for political favors who happened to be able to get to stations along our route. I noticed that only those of us from Kansas rated sleeping accommodations or the best seating and widest menu selection in the bar and dining cars. Thanks to all that good food and drink it's a wonder we managed to be up and dressed when the train pulled into the station at the end of our journey.

Before we had a chance to disembark a representative of the Secret Service and the Attorney General William H. H. Miller directed us to a lavish closed carriage bearing the presidential seal and whisked us off to the White House. Once there, we were escorted to the private quarters designated for the president's family and close friends and shown to our rooms.

All the Cabinet Secretaries and their wives plus the president, vice president and their wives attended the late dinner that evening to introduce us. Matt, in his reply, indicated that I would be the additional person. In deference to me I was seated next to the Harrison family physician, Herbert Hawthorne. The Dillon children ate their supper earlier in the nursery with the Harrison grandchildren, although Nat later complained that he didn't like being treated like he was still a little kid.

Kitty was as relaxed as any woman can be whose husband is, in her opinion, the well-deserved center of attention. The same couldn't be said for Matt. He hated wearing the city suits Kitty had made him buy during their honeymoon in Saint Louis and the family trip to Chicago and having to make small talk with a bunch of politicians and their wives. He welcomed the small amount of time he had available to be with family touring the sights, although for Kitty that also meant big city shopping.

On the 28th we took a train to Baltimore so I could acquaint my family with the places where I gained my medical knowledge and Kitty could arrange for a new gown for herself, a fancy dress for Abby and new suits for Matt, Nat and Adam. We did this first so the alterations could be completed before we returned to Washington.

It didn't leave as much time as I'd hoped for sightseeing, but my adopted family did get to see some of the highlights. At 13 Nat is already thinking of studying the law back east. Although he was impressed with the openness and greenery around the Johns Hopkins campus, I think he found the city atmosphere immediately outside the campus and especially the University of Maryland where I attended medical school not to his liking. He's much like his father that way. Abby found the sights fascinating and could adapt to city life as easily as her mother, who was bred to it, while Adam was simply in awe of all the hustle and bustle, clinging to us for reassurance.

Back at the White House Adam was beginning to show signs of the adventurous boy he'd been before the beating. He found a friend in Benjamin Harrison McKee, who was also born in March '88 and Kitty found a woman who was easy to talk to in his mother Mary Scott Harrison McKee, who, although 11 years younger also had young children. Ben and his sister Mary Lodge McKee, who was born in July the year after her brother, lived in the White House with their parents and grandparents, the President and First Lady, Caroline. The young woman and her children joined us on the 29th in visiting the new Washington Monument that was erected six years earlier. However, only Matt, Nat and Adam climbed the stairs all the way to the top for a bird's eye view of the capitol of our country.

On the 30th, we made use of the trolleys that connect all parts of the District and Alexandria, Virginia and Georgetown. Because of the time it took, we left exploring Georgetown for early on the last day of the year, returning to the White House for lunch with just our and our host's immediate families. Matt I could see was nervous about what was expected of him. He would have preferred spending the remaining time alone with Kitty, but due to her condition, I insisted she nap with Adam so she wouldn't be overtired after the festivities. My godson is still a bit more reticent than he had been before the beating, but otherwise seems completely healed and a boy his age still should nap. Matt denied the chance of a shared bed with Kitty because I insisted she actually get some sleep, put on a coat and sat outside on the back veranda so he could get away from the hemmed in feeling caused by being in a city.

Finally, the grand event commenced. The children again were relegated to the nursery, although they would be granted the privilege of seeing all the speeches being given in honor of their father and thus would welcome in the New Year with the adults unlike Adam's new friends. The head table was up on a short dais while the area immediately in front of it was clear of all tables to allow room for people to dance and welcome in the New Year with their friends and colleagues and guests. There was a stage for the band. Their instruments were already in place and arranged so that a single line of people could easily stand behind the dais to personally congratulate the guest of honor and his family.

This time I was relegated to the second tier of guests, but was allowed to sit with my new friend Dr. Hawthorne so we could discuss medicine during the lavish meal. Our table included Kitty's new friend Mary McKee and her husband as well as four of the congressmen for Kansas and one of our senators, the junior member Mr. Ingalls and their wives. On the head table Matt and Kitty were seated with the President and First Lady to his immediate right, Vice President Levi P. Morton with his wife and the Secretary of State James G. Blaine and his wife on the end. To Kitty's immediate left was Attorney General Miller and his wife and then Secretary of War Redfield Proctor and finally Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Melville W. Fuller III with their wives.

The remaining members of the cabinet and their wives were seated at a table like the one I occupied at the front of the room but on the right as you faced the head table. The occupants were Treasury Secretary William Windom, Postmaster General John Wanamaker, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy, Interior Secretary John W. Noble, Secretary of Agriculture Jeremiah M. Rusk and, to my surprise, Rex Proctor, the bureaucrat sent to Dodge back in the early years to rein in Matt's independent approach during his early years because Washington didn't think he was moving fast enough to civilize the town.

The remaining tables were scattered around the edge of the area designated for dancing and socializing. Our three tables up front had the privilege of ordering our drinks without having to go to the bar to retrieve them, but the others were not so lucky except in one way. The closer to the bar their assigned table was, the less important were those seated at it. They could easily get up to fetch their drinks unlike those in the first tier of not so valued guests. Since '81 alcohol's been illegal according to the Kansas constitution, but it's been left up to local governments to enforce it. Dodge has been very good at getting around this prohibition by calling saloons pharmacies that dispense whiskey by the shot for medicinal purposes as certified by me or as part of the functioning of a bone fide art gallery, thanks to the original art on the walls, in the case of the Long Branch, which was Kitty's idea. She thwarted the attempt to vote the town as dry via special election in the spring of '76 and no real attempt has been made since then although Carry Nation, living in Kansas for the past year, may prove to be an additional challenge for her. She's got the ranch house that they'll move to as soon as we get back and a family, including the one on the way, to care for before even thinking about the Long Branch. At least Floyd and Lily Nevins are there to take care of day to day problems with the saloon, but Kitty confided that if the laws are enforced the Long Branch will reopen as a restaurant that looks the other way if people sneak in their own whiskey, wine or beer.

It's a good thing drinking is part and parcel to conducting business in Washington, especially at official social functions such as honoring a man for 25 years of service to his country upholding its laws upon his retirement, and not so official ones as well. Between the freely flowing liquor and multi-course dinner, time flew by. I'd just taken a sip from my third whiskey when three children appeared beside me dressed in Sunday clothes that would make even the snootiest society matron proud, but then Kitty had made sure they met with all the dictates of fashion. Nat escorted his younger brother and sister to my table from the back of the room where the secret service man had left them so I could lead them to stand with me behind their parents while Matt was honored. However, Adam had his own ideas. I can now pronounce him completely cured.

Before Nat, Abby or I could stop him the small redheaded boy raced to a table a bit more than halfway back to where he'd come. He stopped and began pulling two people in the direction of the dais and stage. His sharp eyes had taken in everything as he entered the room and seen Gil and Adele Clayborne. Gil had been invited because of the monetary support he'd given President Harrison's campaign and also to the Republican ticket from Pennsylvania in the recent election with no knowledge he had any family connection to the honoree. Despite Adam's insistence, the two people were reluctant to come forward until Matt spoke up.

"It seems my son has spotted two more members of our family. Join us," Matt added.

Matt's invitation was all Nat and Abby's aunt and uncle by blood and the same for Adam and the coming baby by consensus needed to come forward to join the rest of the family at the front of the room. As soon as they arrived on stage, President Harrison rose to give the first speech.

"Even though I and my family have come to know you and your family during your stay with us here at the White House, I won't pry into exactly where Mr. and Mrs. Clayborne fit into your family tree, but welcome them to the dais as additional family members to be honored along with you Marshal Matthew Dillon. I know your service to the laws of our nation began long before your appointment as the youngest United States Marshal appointed to date as does your distinguished service to this country during the war that successfully restored the unity of our nation. However, this night is to honor 25 years of exemplary service to the Marshal's Service beginning just after you were discharged from the army as a deputy to the marshal for the western region in Texas. You proved your worthiness so quickly that President Andrew Johnson heeded the recommendations and nominated you, not without discussion mind you, as marshal for Kansas headquartered in Dodge City in the fall of 1866. I understand life there has improved considerably since Rex Proctor, my Secretary of War Redfield Proctor's nephew, in the early spring of '68 was sent to your town to make you improve your results and tow the established line of how to accomplish that or be relieved of your duties. He learned, as we all have subsequently, that doing things your way brought lasting results if not an immediate drop in killings and arrests. I'm proud to honor you on your coming retirement and embarkation onto a new phase of service to your community, state and country and by reflection honor your proud family. Secretary of War Proctor and Attorney General Miller will present you with a plaque to commemorate this day that's being handed to them as I speak by Vice President Morton. Congratulations, Matt."

Secretary Proctor held the plaque as Attorney General Miller stated, "Marshal Dillon by the time these festivities in honor of your service and to greet the New Year have concluded you will be officially retired as the United States Marshal for Kansas. During your tenure the Indian menace has been eliminated, partially due to your unfailing cooperation as the chief civilian officer with the army at nearby Fort Dodge and elsewhere, the rule as come to be accepted as the normal way of things and Dodge City, that raw lawless collection of buildings has become a community where shopkeeper and farmer alike can raise their families, educate their children and worship without fear of being attacked or killed. That you have chosen to raise your own family there is a perfectly exemplifies the changes your time of service has wrought. Therefore Secretary Proctor and I present you with this commemorative plaque."

"The plaque reads," Secretary Proctor added just before handing it over to Matt, "To Marshal Matthew Dillon for 25 years of outstanding service to the Western District of the State of Texas, the state of Kansas and the United States Government during your tenure as a Deputy United States Marshal and United State Marshal. Presented this day, December 31, 1890 on the eve of your retirement."

Then Secretary of State Blaine and Chief Justice Fuller came forward. Blaine spoke first.

"Marshal Dillon, your duties so far have not included conflicts involving other nations, except in so far as tribal lands and reservations are considered sovereign. However, as you embark on your new career as a federal judge in March, conflicts involving foreign nationals might well need to be resolved in your courtroom. Judging from the high esteem in which my colleagues in the Cabinet hold you, I feel certain you will resolve those disputes with aplomb and that your actions will bring honor to yourself and those you hold dear, both the ones standing here and those who remain at home."

Then, with a nod from Blaine, Justice Fuller added, "I concur with my colleague that you will honor your oath as a judge, once taken, in the same exemplary way that you've upheld your oath as a United States Marshal. From all I've learned from those you've worked with in Kansas, who are here at this banquet, and those I've served this country and the law with here in Washington, you, Marshal Dillon will be an outstanding jurist. Those who find themselves in your courtroom will face a man whose respect for the rule of law will allow him to interpret it in such a way that it is applied with equality, yet tempered by compassion and what is ultimately just. I'm proud to have met you and your lovely wife and family."

I could see Matt would have liked nothing better than to fade into the background. Instead, the president looked at his watch before speaking again.

"I've heard you're not a man who is comfortable with formal speeches. However, it falls on you to not only say whatever words of thanks you deem appropriate but to offer the toast that begins our welcome of the New Year. To aid you with that, I hand you this glass of Napoleon brandy. Your lovely wife informs me it's the drink of choice for special occasions in your home."

"I hardly know what to say other than thank you. When I received your telegram Mr. President I felt certain I was being turned down as a federal judge. It's an honor simply to be invited to the White House for this dinner like Gil and Adele. Having this dinner in my honor and being asked to stay with you and your family is more than I deserve. However, it's sure made for a memorable New Year's Eve for Kitty and our kids. Thank you for giving it to them. I reckon that's all I've got to say, so whether it's midnight or not, here's to a happy and peaceful New Year to everyone in this room and those they hold dear."

After Matt finished there was nothing left but to drink to the New Year and wish all those around us what he had wished with his toast. I believe more hugging and kissing took place than Matt and even I was comfortable with. Even the kids looked like they wanted to get away from all the attention. We inched our way through the crowd with Gil and Adele ever closer to our exit, saying our goodnights and farewells and happy New Year's wishes as we did so, until we were at the door. There we made arrangements to meet the Claybornes at 10 AM to accompany them to Philadelphia before they turned toward the exit and we to our rooms in the White House living quarters. It was only when we were alone that we shared the more intimate greeting we wished to share. I'm sure Matt and Kitty's was even more intimate once they reached the privacy of their bedroom.

The first day of 1891 we took the short train ride to Philadelphia, arriving in time for dinner at the Clayborne home at one. After eating Gil and Adele showed us some of the sights in and around the City of Brotherly Love like Independence Hall with the Liberty Bell and the University of Pennsylvania campus.

"Uncle Gil, I hope you won't be upset, but I don't want to go to school here in Philadelphia when the time comes. It's too big a city for me to want to spend a lot of time in it."

"I understand, Nat. Tomorrow I'll show you a campus in Princeton, New Jersey that will be more to your liking. If you decide to attend university there, you'll still have family close enough to come for a visit whenever you've a mind to do so."

Gil was right about Nat liking the school at Princeton. The town was small enough for the boy to feel more comfortable, yet close enough to Philadelphia to allow him to feel like he had family close by. That afternoon, Friday, January 2nd, we boarded the train in Philadelphia for Saint Louis where we'd change to the train that would take us home through Wichita. The trip back, without the benefit of a special train would take us double the time. We wouldn't be back in Dodge until late Sunday afternoon, just in time for the two older kids to get a good night's sleep before going to school when it started up again on Monday the fifth. They certainly would have a lot to tell their friends as would their parents and younger brother.


End file.
